Tue April 24 2018 Has Spring Actually Sprung???

[cookielady]

Good Morning! We had a gorgeous day yesterday. Lovin' it! Suppose to have rain today.

Yesterday was good. Once I got my rear in gear, I headed into town. Got my new glasses adjusted & new nose pads. Then onto Aldi's. Only had 2 items on my list, but had a cart full....how's that happen? Was checking out & couldn't find my Discover Card....order was suspended until I ran home & got the other Discover card. After Aldi's I went to Sharp Shopper. There again...only had 1 item on my list & $60 later I'm leaving the store. Great deals! Got pound squares of mozzarella cheese for $.79!!! Headed home and took a while to unload and put away everything. Cooked a decent dinner and then took Blaise to karate. Once I got the guys to bed, I made up 8 PB pies and have them freezing.

Also worked on ideas & arrangements for Blaise's BD next week. Had to call the theater to see if they'll still have Sgt Stubby there next week. It's going to start at 3:50 and school gets out at 3:40. She told me that there are about 20 minutes of "commercials" before the actual movie starts, so I should be OK. I'll just pick the 2 of them up from school and head straight there. Also changed my mind on what we are giving him as our gift. I really don't want him to get any electronics, so I ordered a tether ball kit. I really wanted Kathy to get him a starter drone for kids, but she doesn't think he'll like it. WHAT???? What kid wouldn't like something that flies? I would.

Today I'm hoping to stay home all day & bake. Carrot cakes first then cookies. I'd like to get orders done so that I can enjoy the rest of the week. We'll see. Making salmon for dinner.

Have a good one all!

[boffler]

Good Morning world, I am with Cookie, I think spring may have sprung, at least yesterday we had some sunshine and warmer temps, today it is back to dreary and drizzling...that's okay I still feel like spring has arrived...Got more things done around the house, picking up after the hubby mainly, think he is taking retirement way to serious, piles on clothes on the floor, shoes all around the place, he even admitted being lazy, I told him he was a procrastinator that it will catch up to him, he said, "no I am lazy", well I won't disagree with that...so the battles have been chosen, LOL

After going to the grocery store for just a few items, came home and we went to Lowe's, he bought dirt, lime, and boards to make some raised beds to see if we can get something to grow and not die from those stupid walnut trees that use to be there, this will be the 4th year of planting and hoping to actually have tomatoes and green peppers and potatoes without the juglone killing everything...I bought 4 5 gal. buckets to and potting soil to plant my own tomatoes and peppers just in case...(grumble, grumble from him, "why should I plant a garden if you are doing that?" I told him to stop being so negative, its my backup plan, no harm, no foul...like Josephine once said, "being single has advantages also, you can do what you won't when you want without comments from the peanut gallery", LOL

I am going to make breakfast burritos this morning, just sounds good, homemade sausage, peppers, onions and cheese...just sounded good so make them I shall..

I have made myself a list of things I wish to accomplish when the weather is agreeable, like it or not, here I come.

Have a great day one and all...no matter if the sun is shining or not, make it a good one..
P.S. I really do love my man, but retirement has changed him a little and not for the better, LOL

[jostoy]

Yep, that is my belief. Now don't get me wrong, there are times that I wished I had someone to go with me to certain places. That "beeping" in my ear yesterday, was a "semi-emergency call. Had to leave right away after hanging up from you.

[ladyebug]

Good Sunny Morning!

Great weather here, but who knows what's around the corner???

Good checkup from doctor - no blood needed. Chemo shots begin again next week. Have not had any since November.

The great fear is this condition slipping into leukemia and so far, so good. Thank you, Lord!

Nurse today. Chicken at noon. Dinner is always a ?

Have a great day, Everyone.

[bethina]

Good morning...I am off today...I am going to visit the cathederal Bassilica in Saint Louis with my activities group...I can't wait to see the beautiful old church...even though I am not catholic. Tonight I hope to watch The greatest showman! I don't know what I am more excited about!

I really enjoyed just hanging out and having a huge dinner with the family last night...I am actually having some left over spagetti for breakfast

[Aunt Maye]

good morning

up very early ,,because David was up very early... will need a long afternoon snooze.

Sharon... hey , give it time..... David has been retired 25 years, the first 5 he drove me crazy,, like your hubby is doing.. It does get better ,,, once he figures out his "territory"..( and don''t you go into it!) you will be ok......DAvid still does a few things that annoy me..like putting things away. dishes always ends up in the wrong places. and keep saying,,, I will re do it later when he is outside. Ha.

Donna, wow what a shopper.. you need another room with nothing but cupboards .amazing how groceries will disappeared tho'

Elaine ,Prayers for John. every day... wish I had magic carpet and could zip down to see you guys..

no plans on my list today.. but DAvid will think of somewhere to go I suppose... so I better get moving . do the morning picking up ,make the place look tidy.... I have crocheting to do...finally got the Afghan started for Donna's Becca housewarming gift... and still have a stack of books. mostly library ones. to read, or skim. I don't read boring books anymore.. if a book don't grab my attention , it goes back to Library. .

[jostoy]

Good morning.

Guess I will do the things today that I was going to do yesterday. I did get the trailer unloaded Sunday evening after I got a "second breath". BUT a lot of the things are just sitting around the garage and shed. Now I need to put them up out of the way. I also want to spread more of the weed and feed on the yard. I think I drove too fast Saturday when I spread it because I have too much still in the spreader. Also the "little yellow heads" are still sticking up straight. They should have been a little wilty by now.

I won't get anything done if I keep sitting here so everyone have a good day.

[Paula A]

good morning! It should be another great day here. I started watering the yard yesterday and will do more today. When we are out back we can smell the lilacs...I love that smell.

I am just a bit down this morning and for no good reason other than the scales went up a 1/2 pound. I had been losing all week, even over the weekend, so I am telling myself I will be more diligent today and drink more water and watch what I eat...but I cannot let something like that put a rain cloud on the day.
It would be easier to take if I could see right away I had eaten too many sweets or something, but....ok, done and moving on.

this week is a busy one. I have a dinner for the missionaries on Thursday, a church activity night Friday (Becky is one of the ones in charge so I do need to go) and then on Saturday I am taking food to a funeral and have a friend's 50th birthday that evening...She is one of my best friends; her mother died 1 1/2 years ago and her father already remarried (before the year was up), so I said I would do whatever her boyfriend (oh, yeah, she divorced her husband who had a girlfriend!) also during the past time her mom has been gone...so she needs the support.
Anyway, I now none of this is really about Me, but I need to schedule better. I do have all the food on hand for the dinner and the funeral, and will order the pies for the birthday today. Luckily, Jaye likes pie and we have a favorite restaurant here that makes them.
Just writing all this makes me realize 1/2 pound is nothing compared to what my friends are dealing with.

So sunny days and Spring time weather are peeking their way through the leftover winter. I am happy for that for all of you who have had such a time of it.

Hope to read you all are doing well and enduring well (retirees!)
Bless you all!

[maxie]

Lilacs are my favorites also. The dwarf bush is full of booms and maybe the weekend warmup will open them. It is suppose to bloom several times this summer but last summer its second bloom was just a couple of stems. The picture of the clematis on face book was beautiful. Mine are coming up and I want to add another plant to fill them out this summer. Also that lemon cake recipe...omg! I need lemon cake!!

[maxie]

Good morning! I guess what this weather is can be called Spring...it is raining but not freezing. I am worried it will be a cool and wet summer and not the hot and dry one I crave!!

Jon brought up the two hibiscus I had in the basement for the winter and one is not going to make it. The butterfly bush is not coming back up so will plant the live hibiscus in its spot and find something else for the two pots. I like the big pots because they are by a step and I can keep a light in them and eliminate falling on my face if I take a night stroll to the patio. The solar lights give off just enough light to see the step. Several of the small flowers I planted last year did not make it so have some filler spots. Suppose to be a warm weekend and Jon is off so maybe we can get something done. I am a great foreman! We also need to pick a stain for the porch deck and the lattice needs finished and shrubs planted in the front and etc etc etc. I complain so much about what never gets done I bet you all have my list of projects memorized. Now if my son would remember!

Today is lunch with the school chums. I am happily going because I need to stop by the bank and get some money for my shopping trip on Thurs. Lunch does not excite me to much...but it was pointed out to me that I need to get out...what? I am beginning to blend in to the furniture or walls? But I do admit that I liked the last couple of lunches because there were only 3 or 4 of us. People change and some of those people I had not seen for 30 years and life still went on...ya know? I just do not have to like everyone and do not want to spend time with those I don't. Antisocial much?

I agree with Jostoy's philosophy after being alone for 20 years but would have liked to have a few retirement years.
Beth I have been to the Basilica and it is beautiful..I am not Catholic either but can appreciate the beauty. Cookie, I have done that many times and always think of you when I go in for one item and fill the trunk. To bad I am not the bargain hunter you are! Elaine you and John also have my prayers. Maye I should look up the library around here but hate to attached to their time schedules. I am with you about a book not catching my attention. I seldom force myself to go on but have been known to go back and try again and been surprised. Maybe that is why I do not like libraries because I do not have the luxury of going back to a book.

Well people, I have spaghetti sauce and meatballs in the crock and yes we eat a lot of spaghetti but it is the most requested by the kids. Have a kitchen to clean up and dishwasher to unload. Another day has begun.

Have a great one and let us hope Spring is finally here...especially since a lot of us are going to be planting this weekend.

[Paula A]

I have a wonderful Triple Lemon. Cake recipe but want to try this one.
As long as a recipe does not start with a cake mix I will give it a chance to challenge the standing favorite!

[JoGee]

Good morning.
I’m very glad to hear the you “easterners” are finally getting some decent weather.
We are up to the mid-90’s now. We will have 95° for the next 3 days, before it eases to the low 90’s. 🌵 This is the first time we have needed to put on the A/C on in April. Time for me to pack my sweaters and flannels in the bin for cold-weather clothes. Wish we had some rain in the near future, but the forecasts are empty for moisture here.

Didn’t accomplish much yesterday. After about 20 minutes on my feet, whatever I’m doing, my back starts to ache and I need to sit til it goes away. When I see my PCP, I’ll ask her for a referral for physical training. I plan on switching to the other facility than the one I had before (which was basically useless, staffed with male-hungry young females) where I was mostly ignored. Maybe that will help.

Elaine, I’m surprised to hear that John’s condition is parallel to mine. The stuff I read about my condition suggests that I may well end up with leukemia. There are a number of blood conditions that do. Right now they are trying to figure out how to keep my fibrosis at bay. I just begun to take the very last medication that may help. It’s an “adventure” to say the least. All I can say is don’t worry about the leukemia. Think about getting through each day on its own merits, whatever the treatments involve, and feeling better. There are a lot of doctors across the country studying these blood disorders. They do share their information. They seem to have made a lot of progress since I first fell seriously ill back in Dec ‘89.
They have developed many good treatments, so let’s hope a cure is on its way. You guys (and Sharon) are frequently in my thoughts.

Bethina, I bet the cathedral is beautiful. My favorite one is in Canterbury, England.....England has many ancient beautiful cathedrals, but they don’t let you take pictures in them. ☹️ Have fun.

Sharon, retirement does change a fellow. Stand your ground. 😉

Maye, I need to bring some yarn out to start a baby blanket. I finally found my bins of yarn and want to use them up!
I used to crochet baby hats and matching blankets for the hospitals’ preemies. Then one nurse snapped at me, “where’s the booties!” Fact is, booties have never stayed on babies’ feet, so I added baby socks from a discount store.
For our family kids’ I made a crib blanket and a smaller car seat blanket along with the hats.

Well, time for me to grab my breakfast. And see if I can find more energy for today.
Have a great day, everyone☀️

[JoGee]

Joystoy, Paula, Maxie - you managed to slip in ahead of me. 😄. Lilacs are my favorite, but don’t grow here. I tried. In MI at THE Grand Hotel I bought some very gorgeous lilac fragrance, but the company went out of business shortly after that. Darn! There are lilacs growing all over Mackinaw Island as well as all over the state of MI. My mom used to have a deep purple Bush, my grandma had white lilacs. The common one there is the lighter purple one. In recent years I’ve heard of pink ones. If I could, I’d plant all the colors. 🤗

[maxie]

I use the wallflowers from Bed and Bath and right this very minute my house smells like lilacs. I can change the scent by season and I was hungry for lilacs!!

[Paula A]

Jo, the Grand has been on my wish list for decades! My cousin just went up that way but weather changed his destination to Upstate NY!
I am going to see about that Wallflower!
That is a store I can walk into with good intentions and come out with a lot of wonderful
Stuff!

[JoGee]

Maxi, thanks for the heads up on Wallflowers. BBB does have lilac scented candles, but there is an “off” smell to it that I don’t like. But I will look for Wallflowers scent next time I go there.

Paula, the Grand Hotel is beautiful. E got us one of the big, overpriced suites there. The piano in it was just for show, the wires disconnected so it can’t be played. The rooms were all different.....at least those with names or titles on them are. Expect other guests to ask if they can see your room; you can do the same. We didn’t, as we spent more time seeing the sights around the island. Also, if you make reservations, ask if there is a themed event going on. Many people come with extravagant old fashioned costumes. (We didn’t. The event was Somewhere In Time. I was comfortable in my good casual clothing. I don’t do formal wear of any kind any more. But that was okay, too.)
It’s all old fashioned. No cars allowed (except for a very few emergency vehicles. We rode in horse-drawn carriages that could transport a handful of couples. The driver told about the historic sights. He turned it into a quiz as we passed a Catholic Church. I was the only one who knew anything about St Anne, apparently. He tried to draw more answers from me, but it got old fast. Later I looked up the saint on google and found I could have given some hair-raising answers that we didn’t learn in catechism. She is the mother of Mary, ergo grandmother of Jesus. The driver will ask who she was married to. Well, she had 3 husbands, none who particularly lived for very long. At least, that’s the story on google.
So remember that much if you go there.
Also remember to pick up some Mackinaw FUDGE. Gift shops have it prepackaged. But you can probably get it cheaper at the actual candy store that makes it.
(I should try to order some online from them, if I can find it. Shouldn’t be hard to find. But E adores the stuff! Oops. Wrong time of year to order it here, at the temperatures we are having. Maybe for next Thanksgiving or Christmas. Get an assortment of flavors. If we visit relatives this summer, we can pick some up probably almost anywhere there.)
If you want “affordable”, you can spend the night in Mackinaw City, ferry over to Mackinaw. See all the island sights, have a meal at the Grand, then back to Mack’ City.
We stayed on the island for a weekend. That was plenty of time to visit.